GREEN AMONG THE ASHES

THE AMAZON PRESENT

She sat in the doorway of her hut, angrily cutting up the vegetables in the bowl placed on her lap, and doggedly ignoring the unending howls of indignation coming from the depths of her home. The knife slipped and sliced into her thumb.

"Damn!" She muttered, wiping the bleeding cut with a cloth lying on the small table beside her.

"Sounds like you have an unhappy camper," observed a voice close at hand.

Kendaa looked up to see Laurissa standing with one hand casually placed on her hip, and smiling as she listened to the stream of bellows still emanating from her sister Amazon's hut.

"Oh yes. Definitely unhappy. He's been grounded and he doesn't like it one little bit."

Laurissa laughed quietly. "What did he do this time?"

The half-dryad sighed, not really wanting to be reminded. "Oh he levitated Chantal's best goat and dropped it in the river. It drowned. Chantal was totally underwhelmed and I have to replace her goat."

"Well you know how much Leo loves to try out his powers, Kendaa. I don't suppose there's a lot you can do about it, except replace the goat and keep telling him it's not nice to levitate other people or animals," Laurissa told her with a shrug.

Kendaa sighed again, more deeply this time. "Well there is something more I can do about it - that I have to do about it," she said softly, her green eyes darkening with pain. "I've spoken to the Queen. It seems others have complained. He has to leave the City, Riz," she quietly told her sister.

Laurissa's face was sober now. She'd known this day would come. She'd also known it would tear at her friend when it did happen. But Amazon law was clear. No boy children were permitted to remain among the Amazons. It had been a rarity for Kendaa to be allowed to keep Leonides until well into his fourth year.

"What will you do? Take him to Ares?" Asked the equally-tall blonde, moving to sit on the ground beside her sister, her arms crossed over her raised knees.

Kendaa's face was bleak. "I'll talk to him. Leo's only four - I don't know how he'll feel about taking on a four year old…," her words were interrupted by a particularly loud howl and a crash from inside the hut. Both Amazons winced and looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"Well, one thing's for certain - there's no mistaking that he's a child of Ares - has his fathers lungs, doesn't he?" Observed Laurissa, drawing a smile from Kendaa.

"He's Ares' child through and through," she said softly.

"I'll miss him," Laurissa told her sister quietly. "He was never much of a problem for me, and he was a good distraction…" Her voice trailed wistfully off as her eyes turned inwards for a moment.

The half-dryad gazed at her intently. She knew that of late her sister had been feeling restless for some reason. It had been some time since she had been involved with someone. She had such a warm, giving heart, and she loved fully and extravagantly. Kendaa knew that part of the problem for Riz was loneliness and wished not for the first time that she could do something to help her sister. But for all her lighthearted bantering on the surface, Laurissa, born among the Amazons, was as strong of mind and body as any of her more serious sisters - not that she wasn't serious when it came to battle. She was one of their best. A warrior meeting Laurissa on the field of battle would very quickly find him or herself wishing they had not challenged her.

Laurissa's voice interrupted her musing. "When will you take Leo to his father?"

Kendaa gazed thoughtfully into the distance. "I'll need to ask him first. Probably tonight."

The slender Amazon sitting on the ground rose gracefully to her feet, lightly brushing dirt off her short skirt. "Well, I'd best be going. I'm due in the training field with the young ones about now," she told her sister in resignation. "It's almost a full-time job trying to keep some of them from damaging themselves," she sighed dramatically.

Kendaa laughed softly. "Have fun. I had them this morning. There were no limbs missing when I left," she informed Riz with a grin.

Bantia's daughter made her farewells and strode off in the direction of the training fields, and Kendaa's grin faded to be replaced by sadness. Leo's outraged outcries had quietened now. She resumed cutting up the vegetables, her mind idly tracing the four years since her son's birth.

Soon her throat was tight with unshed tears.

The candle flame flickered uncertainly, barely augmenting the already-dim light provided by the dying fire in the hearth. She had been on her knees, sitting back on her heels, for one full turn of the hour-glass. Originally she had started out intending to call for Ares, but her mind had long since drifted aimlessly onto paths dictated by her aching heart. She stared sightlessly at the wavering flame, seeing something else entirely.

"You're disturbed," observed a deep voice from directly behind and above her. She moved slightly, but didn't turn for a moment, continuing to gaze into the candle flame. She had been so preoccupied, she hadn't felt him arrive.

"There's something I need to ask you," she told him quietly, trying to find the courage to say what had to be said.

Strong hands pulled her to her feet and she was turned to face him.

Dark eyes gazed quizzically down into hers. "Then ask," he bade her, his hands gently running over her tense shoulders.

For a moment she closed her eyes and leaned her head sideways,seeking the touch of his hand. One hand came up to cup her chin.

She opened her eyes. His own ageless, dark pools immediately caught and held them captive. She sighed.

"It's Leonides. He can't stay here any more, Ares. I've been permitted to keep him longer than others have kept boy children, out of deference to you, but now..." She swallowed miserably. "He's growing and he...he has to leave."

The God of War nodded slightly, slowly. He could feel the sadness and pain within her, and wondered at it. In his mind warriors and mothers were mutually exclusive terms, although he knew well that she had been a good mother to the son he had made with her.

"So," he replied quietly, "I'll find suitable foster parents for the boy until he's old enough to come to me. That's no problem."

But Kendaa was shaking her head. He sighed. "You have a problem with that." It wasn't a question.

The Amazon didn't say anything for a moment, searching for the right words.

"He's not going to foster parents," she said in a quiet, determined voice. "Either you take him now, my Lord, or I'll leave the Amazons and we'll make a home somewhere I can be with him, and he'll have at least one of his parents with him."

The God of War was annoyed, and it showed, although his voice remained quiet.

"You wouldn't by any chance be presuming to issue me with an ultimatum, would you?" He enquired in a silky tone.

She raised a tired hand and ran it absently through her fringe before answering.

"Yes, I suppose I am," she admitted, surprised at her own foolhardiness, but feeling desperate enough to stand by it.

He laughed softly, incredulously. "Oh my dear… And just what would you do, pray, if you were no longer a warrior? Settle down in some dull, back-woods village and milk cows? Mend garments?" And even if she did choose to do so, there's no way I'd allow her to remain there. She's a warrior through and through. She's mine through and through. He shook his head at the thought. "I don't think so - do you?" He asked, his own expression showing clearly that he thought the very idea ridiculous.

She looked away from him for a moment, listening to the soft rustle of their restless son turning in his bed. But green eyes found dark ones again soon enough. "Will you take him?" She asked flatly.

Ares frowned, thinking for a moment. It had been a very long time since he'd taken one of his children at such a young age...

He reached a decision.

"Very well. I'll take him. But you will have to accept that from the moment he enters my temple all matters relating to his future - to his training - will be in my hands, and mine alone. Do you understand?"

She said nothing.

"Do you understand?"

She gazed at him. In other words, do you accept it? She had long known this day would come.

Slowly she nodded.

"Yes, I understand. And I'll abide by it."

The God of War inclined his head.

"Good, because it's not negotiable, Kendaa. From the day you bring him to my Northern Temple, the raising of him is out of your hands. You may see him whenever you wish, but he's mine to raise - as I choose," he told her in a deliberate, intent voice.

"Yes. Whatever you will," she whispered, swallowing. Oh my love, I trust you - when so many wouldn't, I do. Don't deceive me now, I beg you. Raise our son to be an honourable man - a warrior if that is what he wishes, but raise him to be honourable.

Ares raised a finger and idly brushed a stray tendril of hair behind her left ear.

"You owe me for this my sweet," he told her gently.

She sighed. "If you say so, Ares." So long as Leonides is safe and happy, I don't care what you ask of me.

He smiled. "Bring him to my Northern Temple in two days," he told her, turning in preparation of leaving her.

But he stopped, and turned back for a moment. "Oh - one other thing. Laurissa is to come with you," he added.

She frowned, confused. "Laurissa?"

"I did say you owed me, my sweet. I've a mind to collect sooner rather than later. All will be made clear when you and Laurissa arrive with Leonides."

He retraced his steps and leaned down, kissing her deeply, drinking greedily from the sweetness that was uniquely hers. His touch did much to ease her, as it always did, and she returned it equally as passionately. At length, he broke the kiss and stepped back from her.

"Two days, my own."

Without giving her a chance to reply, he disappeared.

Sighing, she touched her swollen lips, before smiling wryly, and moving towards her own bed in the hut's small back room, careful not to wake the small boy sleeping beside her bed.

"What do you mean, Ares wants me to go with you too?"

Laurissa was staring up with alarm at the half-dryad standing in the door of her cottage. She absently placed the mug of water she was holding back onto the table, as yet untouched.

Kendaa shrugged, folding her arms across her chest. "Just what I said. He told me you're to come with us when we go to his temple the day after tomorrow. He didn't elaborate."

"Oh great... I've annoyed him somehow and now he's going to punish me. But I don't know what I could have done. I haven't done anything to annoy any of the gods. Well nothing that I can think of offhand. In fact, I go out of my way to make offerings to him, and to Artemis..."

"Riz..."

"Maybe I should go to his altar right now and make a bigger offering or something. Yeah, that's a good plan. At least then I can ask him to get it over with fast. He probably wants to kill me. Oh gods..."

"RIZ!"

The head of the woman at the table whipped around at the loud call of her name.

"You're babbling," Kendaa pointed out, more quietly.

"Oh. Was I? But what do you suppose he wants?" Laurissa asked her sister, her face still unusually apprehensive. She had always been somewhat in awe of the patron god and goddess of the Amazons, Ares and Artemis, and it unnerved her to know that Ares even knew of her.

Kendaa moved into the hut to sit at the table beside Laurissa. "I really have no idea, but if he'd wanted to punish you for anything, believe me he'd have done it before now. He wouldn't have waited for you to arrive at his Temple in a few days."

"You've got to be talking about my father," came a new voice from the doorway.

The two Amazons turned to face the newcomer, who moved to stand just inside the door.

"He's asked for me to go to his temple with Kendaa and Leo," Laurissa informed Klio miserably.

Klio's face lightened in comprehension. "Well then, you have nothing to worry about, Riz. Kendaa's right. If he'd wanted to chastise you for anything, he would have just gone ahead and done it. He's not exactly the patient type." She frowned as something occurred to her. "But why are you and Leo heading up there?" She asked, turning to her friend.

The tall Amazon looked as miserable now as Laurissa had just previously. "I'm taking Leonides to live with Ares," she replied quietly.

The daughter of Ares nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm sorry, Kendaa. I know how much he means to you - to us all. I'll miss him. But it's our way - and it's for the best," she told her friend softly.

Kendaa slid her hands out in front of her so that the palms lay flat on the table. She idly contemplated them for a minute before replying. "Yes, I know that," she whispered. "My head knows it all - it's my heart that has to catch up," she added quietly, before standing. "I'm due on patrol." She moved towards the doorway.

"Have you told Leo yet?" Laurissa asked quietly, concern in her voice.

Melinnope's daughter shook her head. "No. I'll tell him tonight, after I get back." She sketched a brief farewell gesture in the air as she moved past Klio and out into the beginning of another day in the Amazon City. Behind her, Klio and Laurissa exchanged sad glances.

"So, looking forward to talking to my father?" Klio asked mischievously as she moved to take the chair vacated by Kendaa.

Laurissa immediately swallowed nervously. "Oh yeah - really looking forward to that," she replied in a tone that conveyed exactly the opposite impression.

Klio laughed as she took the mug of water offered to her by Laurissa.

The little boy ran ahead on legs that were already showing the promise of being as long as his father's when he became full-grown. The forest around them was bathed in the golden glow of late afternoon as the half-dryad walked more slowly behind her son. Dry leaves and twigs snapped under her feet as she moved down the path, her mind searching for the words to tell her child why he must leave her and go to his father.

"Mama! Look! I found a furry-wriggler!" Her son's voice interrupted her thoughts as he ran up to her, holding a small crawling insect in his hand.

She looked down at what he was holding up for inspection. "Mmm, that's nice, my love. Why don't you put him back where you found him? He's probably feeling anxious curled up in your hand like that."

Leonides grinned, the same impish grin that she had so often seen his father display, and she couldn't help but smile at seeing it.

When he came back to her side, she took his hand and drew him into the cool depths of the forest where they would be away from any other eyes or ears except for the brothers and sisters-in-fur and feathers.

She saw a fallen log, and moved towards it, seating herself and drawing Leonides up beside her.

For a moment she was silent, gazing around her at the dense, verdant richness of the woodland surrounding them. But her eyes fell on her son soon enough.

"Leo, there's something we need to talk about."

He gazed up at her, his face framed by thick, unruly sable curls. "What, mama?"

His mother drew a deep breath. "You know how there are no other boys your age among the Amazons?" She asked him, and he nodded, for it was a fact that was hard to escape, even for a child as young as Leonides.

"Well," she continued, "There's a law among the Amazons that boys can't stay in the City of Amazons." She stopped, watching the play of movement across the expressive features.

He thought about that for a moment, his face creased in a frown, not fully understanding what she had said.

"Why Tishka?"

She smiled softly at his unconscious use of the Centaur word taught him by Khyra - a word that meant "My dear Mama".

"In our world, Leo, not all women are treated with respect - in many other places they are treated cruelly and with disrespect. So, a long time ago, many women came together, and the Amazon Nation was formed so that the women who were a part of the Nation need not be afraid of men, and need not bow down to the tyranny of some men. We are warriors and can defend ourselves. In other places, it's not like that for women. Many of them suffer pain and indignity and are downtrodden and treated as possessions."

"Father often says you're his," observed the green-eyed boy sitting next to her with an astuteness that belied his young years.

She reddened.

"That's different, my love. Your father and I... Well, it's just different," she told him, somewhat lamely, at a loss to explain the paradoxical relationship she had with the God of War.

But Leonides' thoughts had latched on to something else.

"Do I have to leave?" He asked in a small voice, his small face showing signs of distress. "Is it because I've been bad?"

Kendaa blinked, surprised that he should draw that particular conclusion. She immediately leaned across and drew him onto her lap. "No! Of course not. It's just... The time has come for you to leave the City of the Amazons and go to your father," she hastened to reassure him.

He brightened immediately.

"I'm going to visit father?" He asked eagerly.

The half-dryad drew a deep breath. "Not exactly, my love. You'll be living with your father."

The small head was raised to her face. "But father is always busy," he told her uncertainly, not sure he liked this new development. "Will you be living with us too?"

Shaking her head, she hugged him closer, enfolding him in the warmth of her long, slender arms. "No, I won't be living with you, but I'll visit as often as I can, I promise. And your father will make time once you're living at his Temple. He'll be teaching you a lot of new, exciting things," she added, for some reason suddenly finding it hard to swallow. "You'll enjoy that, won't you?"

The child in her arms nodded slowly against her breast. "I suppose so, but Mama - I'll miss you. Why can't you come too?"

She smiled slightly now, feeling tears forming. "Because I don't belong there, Leonides. You do - you're the son of Ares, and it's very important that you learn of your heritage from him. And you both need to get to know each other," she told him softly. She wasn't at all sure that was how Ares would see the situation, but it was important that he get to know his son.

Leonides had reached into the pocket of his breeches and pulled something out, holding it out to show her. It was the small onyx statue of a soldier that Ares had given Leonides some time before. The boy never went anywhere without it, and even slept with it close by. Kendaa touched it gently. "That's a lovely statue, Leo. We'll have to make sure you take it with you, won't we?"

The boy nodded, snuggling closer to his mother, and closing his hand over his favourite toy.

For a long while, they sat quietly like that, as the evening shadows lengthened across the forest and the familiar day noises began to die down to a silence that reached out and enfolded them both.

"One day," Kendaa whispered to Leonides, "I'll take you to the Northern Realm, so you can begin to learn your forest inheritance too, my love."

But the child in her arms was asleep, and didn't hear.

"I'm going to miss you very much, my dearest," she added, leaning down to gently kiss the head leaning so trustingly against her. She smiled sadly as she gazed down at her son for a long moment before rising and carrying him carefully back to the city.

Helios's chariot had barely begun its journey for the day, but already there was something of a crowd gathered in the main square of the City, in spite of the early-morning chill in the air. Women, some with long faces and moist eyes one by one said their farewells to a boistous little boy who was also warm and loving, and who had captured the hearts of many during his first four years in the City of the Amazons.

Kendaa stood beside her son as his arms gradually became laden with all manner of small gifts to take with him to his new home. She blinked away her own tears as one Amazon after another bade him a warm and sometimes tearful farewell. He was the recipient of many heartfelt hugs, and patiently stood and returned them, equally as warmly, his small face composed. Ares would have been proud, she thought, loosely holding the reins of Victory, her grey stallion. Laurissa stood beside her, her own horse Fellippe nibbling quietly on her hair, for all that she kept gently swatting his seeking snout away.

"I guess we'd better get going," the tall blonde said quietly, when the last Amazon had released him from their hug and stepped reluctantly away. She took the bundle of gifts from her son, and carefully packed them into the leather carry-all she had strapped to her saddle, and which also carried Leo's clothes and few toys. As she moved some of them around to make room for other items, she idly wondered what Ares would think of toys in his temple.

Laurissa mounted Fellippe and sat waiting, her hands holding the reins casually, while Kendaa lifted Leonides onto the horse, and then mounted behind him.

Klio stepped up beside them. "Take care, you three," she told them quietly, rubbing a hand over Victory's mane. She smiled reassuringly up at her small half-brother. "I'll visit you when I can, Leo. In the meantime, practice whatever father tells you, don't believe everything he says, and don't expect him to hug you - he doesn't do that. Oh, and above all - keep that infamous sense of humour of yours, ok? It'll drive father crazy," she added in a conspiratorial tone which had Leonides giggling. She reached up and tickled him in the tummy, and the giggling grew in volume, making them all smile, and doing much to relieve the quiet air of sadness surrounding the small group.

The two Amazons almost simultaneously raised their arms in farewell gestures, as they turned their mounts to face the gates of the city. As they moved forward, voices drifted up behind them in a chorus of farewells. The Queen was emerging just as they passed her residence, and both women bowed their heads briefly in acknowledgment, before setting the horses to a canter as they passed out through the gates of the City and turned their mounts northwards, in the direction of the Temple of Ares.

Several hours later, they slowed from a gallop to a trot as they neared a quiet stream. Laurissa dismounted first, leading a clearly-thirsty Fellippe to the grassy edge of the bank. Horse and rider both lowered their heads to the stream, although Laurissa only cupped some of it in her hand before splashing it over her hot face.

Kendaa eased herself off Victory, before lifting Leonides down. She gave her son the water skin, and led the stallion to stand beside Fellippe, who gave a welcoming whicker.

"Not much farther," the half-dryad observed, leaning down to mimic her sister Amazon's actions with the water.

Laurissa was rubbing the back of her neck with water, but looked sideways. "So is this going to be a formal thing?" She asked, curious.

"Yes," Kendaa replied with a frown. "It's necessary to have a formal presentation of Leonides to his father. He is one of the Twelve Enthroned, and that sort of thing is expected," she added in resignation.

Her friend laughed quietly, taking the water skin from Leonides when he handed it up to her. "You really aren't much for ceremony, are you? I've seen you yawn steadily through some of our own rituals, when you haven't gone to sleep standing up."

Kendaa grinned. "And there I was thinking that no one noticed! Thanks!" She laughed at the thought. "And coming from you that's rich - you hate some of those drawn-out rituals. I've watched you almost sprint for the mess hall and some ale in desperation when some of them have finally ended," she teased Riz, glad for the chance to laugh.

The equally-tall blonde took a long drink from the water skin, before replacing the stopper and wiping her mouth. "I guess neither of us are much on ceremony," she replied, giving Fellippe an affectionate rub on the snout before taking up the reins and drawing him away from the water.

"Mama! Can I ride with Riz? Please?" Leonides' voice was all but wheedling as he gave his mother a broad, winning smile.

She smiled and nodded. "Sure, if Riz and Fellippe will let you," she told him.

Laurissa laughed. "Of course you can, my little woodchuck! Come on, up we get!"

But Leo stood stock still at that, hands on his hips in an attitude that could only have been inherited from his father.

"I'm NOT a little woodchuck! I'm Leonides!"

The two Amazons shared an amused glance.

"Oh. I'm so sorry - of course you're not a little woodchuck, Leo. You do want me to help you up on the horse, don't you?" She enquired politely, careful to stifle her smile, while Kendaa just shook her head and eased herself back onto Victory. If Ares thought he'd have an easy time of it with his son, he had another thing coming. She found amusement in that thought as they turned the horses northward and began the final leg of the journey to Ares' great Northern Temple.

The countryside was bathed in the remnants of the burnished golden glow from Helios's chariot when they reached their destination. Lengthening shadows in the forest surrounding the Temple and a slight chill in the early evening air gave testimony to the end of another day's journey. Dismounting, Laurissa and Kendaa led the horses around to the stables and left them in the care of two dour and silent stablehands, before heading for the main entrance to the God of War's northern power base. He wasn't always to be found there, although for a god who professed to have little time for what he saw as the collective idiocy of the mortal race, he did spend more than a fair share of his time there. Now, as the trio approached the great doors giving entrance to the Temple, guards standing at stiff attention proclaimed that their god was present. Without moving their heads, they inspected the newcomers, and when they saw Kendaa and Leonides, they immediately allowed them to pass into the cool entrance atrium.

Torches illuminated the atrium, and a priest of Ares came hurrying down the long corridor leading off the left of the atrium. When he reached them, he looked down at the small boy, who stared back. "Hello Prylatis!" He chirped cheerfully, having met the priest on several occasions in the past. "I've come to stay!" He informed the tall, lean man. Prylatis smiled sightly. "Indeed, master Leonides. So Lord Ares has told me. He awaits you in the Throne Room." He nodded to Kendaa, inclined his head in acknowledgement to Laurissa, and turned to lead them to the Throne Room.

"Could you give us a few minutes please, Prylatis?" Kendaa asked the priest quietly, forestalling him.

The priest looked slightly irritated, but only because he knew his Lord was anything but patient, and would be waiting for them to go to him now they had arrived.

Catching the look, Laurissa smiled slightly and moved forward, taking him by the arm and drawing him over to a corner away from the half-dryad and her son. "Could you help me, my friend? I'm afraid I've only ever been here once before, and I'm not familiar with the layout, where…?" Her voice trailed off as they drew away from Kendaa and Leonides.

The half-dryad Amazon looked solemnly down at her son for a long moment before crouching down in front of him and smoothing his unruly dark locks down. "Well, Leo, this is it. You know when we enter the Throne Room that you have to be very serious this time, right?"

Her son nodded, his large green eyes sparkling in excitement, for all that his mother was pale and solemn.

She paused for a moment, reaching out and running her hands up and down the small arms.

"I want you to know, my love, that you are one of the greatest joys of my life. If ever you need me, I'll come. Just tell your father, and he'll get me." She drew a deep breath. "This place isn't like the City of the Amazons. You can't run wild here - and you must always remember that you are the son of the God of War. Obey your father, listen to him and learn from him. And if he seems a little harsh - well, that's just his way. Underneath that, he does care, my son, although he might not tell you that he does." She smiled slightly, swallowing and standing. "Ready?" She asked her son.

He nodded again, chewing on his lower lip, before raising a hand and beckoning his mother to reach back down towards him again.

When she did so, he threw his arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. "I love you, Tishka," he whispered into her ear.

Kendaa swallowed her tears and slowly stood upright, smiling down at him. "I love you too," she whispered, before looking over at Laurissa and Prylatis and signalling that they were now ready.

Prylatis moved forward to stand in the centre of the room, and bowed deeply to the god. "My Lord Ares, your son, Leonides and the Amazons Kendaa and Laurissa." Having announced them, he moved aside to allow them to move forward.

Taking a deep breath, Kendaa began walking towards Ares, her face expressionless. Beside her, Leonides walked with a dignity and grace that was inherited from both his parents. Laurissa walked behind them, swallowing nervously, but schooling her own face to an indifference she was far from feeling at that moment. Now that she was actually at Ares' Temple, she was still no closer to understanding why he would have required her presence, and that continued to make her nervous.

It didn't take them long to reach the foot of the dais leading up to Ares' throne, and they came to a uniform halt. Laurissa moved to stand beside her sister Amazon, pride in her warrior's heritage raising her chin to a proud angle as she stood before the god she served in battle. Both Amazons bowed formally, acknowledging the Lord of War. Then Kendaa looked down at her son and nodded slightly.

Leonides gazed up at his father for a long moment. The leather-clad figure on the throne presented to all appearance a remote, forbidding figure, the eyes shuttered and unreadable, but as Leonides studied his father's face, unmindful of his mother's curious frown, he saw something come and go in those dark eyes that was somehow reassuring.

"My Lord Ares, I present to you your son, Leonides," his mother said quietly, formally.

That was his cue, and the son of Ares bowed low, reverently, just as his mother had taught him before they'd left the City of the Amazons. When he stood upright again, he sought his father's eyes, and suddenly grinned, a wide, happy, trusting grin. The god on the throne stifled the amused smile that sought to express itself as he nodded in acknowledgment.

"You are welcome here, Kendaa's son," he said quietly, ignoring the slight gasp that came from Kendaa, and the surprised Priests and Priestesses gathered in the hall. He knew what he'd done - knew, too, that publicly acknowledging the mortal mother of one of his children was the very last thing they had expected of him. That, too, afforded him some small amusement. Let them be surprised, they should know by now that I do what I damn well please. He knew that they knew too, that it would be more than their lives were worth to express their surprise in front of him. They were waiting for him to continue.

"From this day, you will take your place in my Temple. You will be educated; you will be trained - by me, and you will be accorded the privileges due you as my son. Your mother has asked this of me, and I have agreed to it." He was silent for a moment, his eyes moving to lock with Kendaa's. Her face was pale but composed.

It was done.

He nodded to one of the Temple Priestesses. "Go with Draesa. She will take you to your quarters, and bring you to us for the evening meal."

Leonides looked up at his mother and smiled - but now it was an uncertain smile. "Go," she whispered. "We'll see you soon." She handed him the carry sack with his belongings.

The small boy nodded slowly, and turned towards the approaching Priestess, who smiled reassuringly and reached out her hand to take his into it. "Come, Leonides, let me show you your new quarters. I think you'll like them. We've prepared them especially for you!"

As the Priestess left the hall with his son, Ares raised his voice slightly. "You may go," he told those assembled in the Hall.

They all slowly filed out, leaving the two Amazons alone before Ares. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the throne for a moment or two, seeming preoccupied, before rising and descending the steps to stand before them.

"Now that's over - I have some business to discuss with you both."

Laurissa swallowed. Business? What possible business could he have with me? She stood rigidly at attention, her apprehension getting the better of her, for all that she tried not to show it.

But the God of War had noticed.

"Relax. I don't bite - well not much, anyway," he told her wickedly.

Kendaa rolled her eyes. Her sister subsided. "I'm sorry my Lord, it's just..."

"Don't worry about it," he advised her. "Tell you what, why don't you both freshen up and we'll talk over dinner," he suggested with a charming smile.

"Fine," agreed Kendaa, turning to leave the hall. "I could do with a bath."

Laurissa nodded. "That sounds very nice," she murmured politely, moving to follow her sister Amazon, aware that a pair of dark eyes followed their progress out of the hall.

Outside, and out of Ares' earshot, Laurissa sighed. "Dinner - I'm having dinner with the God of War." She shook her head. "This is too weird."

Kendaa frowned. "He wants something," she said with certainty, "and he thinks that he can butter us up with a good dinner." She sighed. "Well, it could be worse, he could just come right out and order us to do whatever it is. Come on, let's go take that bath before he gets impatient and comes for us himself," she said, heading in the direction of the Temple's guest quarters.

Laurissa caught up with her before she'd gone too far. "Yeah, it could definitely have been worse - he could have had me for dinner," she muttered, shaking her head again in bemusement.

The half-dryad grinned in spite of herself. "Nah, he wouldn't do that - he doesn't like bones," she teased her sister.

"Hey!" Laurissa cried indignantly, playfully smacking her on the top of the head.

They headed down the corridor laughing quietly.

They sat at table in Ares' private domain. Laurissa took a sip from a goblet containing the finest wine she had ever tasted, and sat back, replete. The meal had been both a surprise and a delight. She and Kendaa had eaten heartily of a meal consisting of tender roast pig, a variety of vegetables, freshly baked bread, and succulent fruit grown, Ares told her in response to her query, in the Temple's own orchard. She had been surprised and said as much, and Ares had added that everything on the table came from the lands surrounding the Temple. Even the bread had been freshly baked that day in the Temple kitchens.

Ares hadn't eaten, although he had drank now and then from a goblet containing the same wine as that which Laurissa now enjoyed. He toyed idly with the rim of the vessel, running his finger repeatedly along the edge. Bantia's daughter had been surprised, too, to find Ares to be a charming, urbane host, possessed of a dry sense of humour.

Now he turned to his son, who sat trying, without success, to keep his eyes open. He stood and went to the child, crouching down beside him. "Come, it's past your bedtime," he said quietly to Leonides, who rubbed a small fist into one drooping eye, but readily allowed himself to be lifted into his father's arms.

A silent look passed between Leonides' mother and father before Ares said "I'll be back shortly, and then we'll talk."

Kendaa reached up to gently rub the child's back. "Good night, little one," she said softly.

Leonides snuggled more closely against the warmth of his father's chest. "Night, Mama," he mumbled, already half asleep. Ares raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, vanishing in a shower of golden light with his small burden.

After he had gone, Laurissa turned to Kendaa, who sat morosely consuming her own wine.

"You ok?"

The half-dryad shrugged, her face moody. "I suppose so," she replied, before taking another sip of her wine. "I miss him already," she added, "and we haven't even left."

Riz could almost feel the pain emanating from her sister. "I know - I'm sorry. Lord Ares is different to what I'd expected. He seems to be gentle with Leo," she observed quietly, hoping to lighten her sister's mood.

Kendaa smiled at that. "Oh he is. Never doubt it - he's very protective of his children even if he doesn't always show it."

At that moment Ares suddenly reappeared, disconcerting Laurissa. I wish he wouldn't do that, she thought to herself irritably. It made her decidedly jumpy.

The God of War resumed his seat. "I want the two of you to do something for me," he began without preamble.

Kendaa stared at him. Here it comes, she thought wearily.

Laurissa frowned, wondering what the God of War could possibly require of her. "Oh?" She queried, daring to hold his gaze for the first time that evening.

"What is it?" Kendaa asked flatly. The fact that he had even bothered plying them with food and wine very much suggested that whatever it was, they weren't going to like it much.

The dark Lord of War gazed from one to the other, his expression thoughtful, before continuing.

"Some time ago, one of my warriors disappeared without a trace. It wouldn't have mattered so much, except that he really was an exceptional strategist, and excellent fighter. I never did manage to learn what become of him. Recently, however, I've learned that my mother has him, and several other individuals imprisoned in a citadel she has kept secret from any of us on Olympus. So secret in fact, that she'd placed a spell on it so that not even the gods could have found it unless they knew of its existence beforehand."

"Who found it then?" Laurissa asked, intrigued in spite of herself.

Ares shrugged. "One of my servants on Olympus overheard two of my mother's minions discussing the place. Once he'd heard enough to place the location of the citadel, he came to me. Servants will gossip," he concluded lightly.

Kendaa refilled her goblet before speaking. "And where exactly do we fit into this?"

Ares' dark, intent gaze fell on his Chosen. "I thought that would have been perfectly obvious, my sweet. I want Danilis - my warrior - back; and I want you two to get him for me," he told her, dark eyes daring her to refuse.

Both Amazons began speaking at once. Both immediately stopped, looking at each other to continue.

"You first," Laurissa told her sister.

Kendaa rubbed a hand across the back of her neck irritably. "Why can't you get him out yourself? Or send some of your own warriors or warlords?"

The God of War leaned forward, placing his hands flat on the table, his face intense. "The why of it doesn't concern you. My reasons are my own," he told her, annoyed.

"But..." Laurissa began, stunned.

"Yes?" Ares' cold, unblinking gaze fell on her now.

The tall Amazon sat back in her chair, licking suddenly dry lips. "Nothing." She didn't at all like the direction the evening had suddenly taken.

But Kendaa wasn't finished.

"Ares..." She shook her head. "It's almost harvest time in the City of the Amazons. Every pair of hands is needed. Why us? There must be unlimited numbers of others you could get to do this!" She was frustrated and it showed.

The Lord of War nodded. "Oh there are. But none of them work together quite as well as the Amazons. And you two work very well together. I've watched you."

Laurissa's mouth fell open at that revelation, and she all but squirmed in her seat to think that he'd been watching her.

"And besides," Ares continued, "You're both very capable of being devious - and this particular task requires a high degree of deviousness."

Kendaa stared now too.

"Devious?" Both Amazons uttered in unison.

Ares inclined his head. "Devious," he confirmed.

"Kendaa's right, Lord Ares - we're needed back in the City. I'm honoured that you think I'm...devious, but..." Laurissa started.

She got no further, for Ares cut her off.

"You wouldn't by any chance be refusing me, would you?" He asked with a quiet silkiness that set the hair on the back of Laurissa's neck standing on end.

Laurissa swallowed and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. The pleasant dinner interlude had unexpectedly headed into dangerous waters.

The half-dryad was suddenly on her feet and leaning over the table.

"Yes, that's exactly what she - we're - doing. This is the most..." She barely stopped herself from saying idiotic in time. "This has nothing to do with us. We're needed at home, and we don't have time to be running off reclaiming your warriors for you, Ares!" Her voice had risen sharply in volume as a measure of her annoyance.

Ares abruptly came upright too, his face darkening with rage.

"You're forgetting something," he told her, his own voice deceptively calm, his eyes coldly angry now.

Laurissa worriedly chewed her lip, looking from one to the other. Great, he's going to fry the pair of us. Just wonderful.

"Oh yes, let us not forget that I owe you," the half-dryad snarled, her eyes deep forest green.

"Yes," he growled back at her. "You have an obligation to me, and you know it. You have no option, my dear," he told her, knowing she couldn't refuse him.

With unexpected suddenness, the anger left Kendaa. She raised her hands in a gesture of defeat, and slowly sat down again while Ares stood over her, his expression still angry.

She looked at her sister Amazon. "Well, Riz? What do you say? Do you think you're up to being devious?" She asked, outwardly calm.

Bantia's daughter shrugged. "Hey, I'm always up for a good, clean fight."

Ares sat again too, his face unreadable now.

"Good, then I'll send word to your Queen that you'll both be absent for a while. I'm sure your sisters will manage just fine without you both," he told them calmly.

Laurissa nodded slowly, while Kendaa said nothing.

"Well, at least I can't say that my life isn't exciting these days," Laurissa murmured, taking another sip from her wine.

After a moment or two, she became aware of the now-heavy silence in the room. She looked from the half-dryad to the God of War. Kendaa was displaying a marked interest in her wine vessel. Ares' face was remote, his unwavering gaze fixed on the half-dryad. Okaaaaaaay...seems we have a situation here. Leaving them to it would be a good plan...

The blonde Amazon slowly placed her goblet on the table. "It's getting late." She looked to Ares, who turned to her and nodded slightly.

"You're excused," he told her quietly.

She smiled at Kendaa who smiled slightly in return. "See you in the morning," the half-dryad told her friend, equally as quietly.

Laurissa quietly closed the door behind her and stood leaning against it for a moment. Gods, Another minute in there and the entire room would have spontaneously combusted. They feed on each other. I never knew love and anger could be so inextricably entwined. Shaking her head, she walked off in the direction of the guest quarters.

Inside Ares' quarters silence reigned for several minutes after Laurissa had left, until the God of War ended it.

"You've been irritable all evening," he said flatly, dark eyes fixed on her.

Slowly she raised her head, her eyes finding his. "No, I'm not irritable," she replied, calm now.

He couldn't read her face, for it was closed to him. "What then?" He asked in frustration. "Is it this task I've set you?"

Kendaa stood and moved to the large window that stood between the table and Ares' bedchamber. She stared sightlessly out into the night.

"No. It's not that - although I still don't see why you want us in particular to do this," she replied at length, not turning, even when she heard him move to stand.

"I told you why - it's merely a matter of practicality. I happen to think the two of you will have a better chance of getting Danilis out than any of my warriors. And besides," he added, almost absently, "There's a major war brewing in the Peloponnese. I need as many of my warriors there as soon as possible. It's going to be a big one."

She turned at that, frowning. His face revealed nothing, however. He hadn't sounded nearly as happy as he normally did at the prospect of a major conflict. She wondered at that, but he chose to reveal nothing further on the subject.

"Well it's not that," she repeated. "It's...," she sighed heavily, lowering her head.

He was before her then, moving with silent, lithe grace, his hand under her chin forcing it up so that her gaze met his. "It's…what?" He wasn't about to let her present odd mood pass unchallenged.

Tears formed - as they had so readily for days. She tried in vain to blink them away, annoyed with herself.

Ares' eyes narrowed in sudden comprehension.

"It's the mother thing." He said quietly, certain he was right.

"You make it sound like a disease," she replied with quiet anger, in spite of the tears.

The hand cupping her chin moved to the back of her neck and gently began rubbing the stiff muscles. "Perhaps it is," he mused thoughtfully.

That annoyed her further. "I can't help it," she threw at him, for all that she remained still, accepting the ministrations of the soothing hand at the back of her neck. "I never knew what it would feel like to have a child - to nurture him; to love him...for all those years, and then to have to let him go. It hurts. I hurt!" she cried, unable to stop the tears falling down her face. "And feeling like this isn't a weakness, Ares, no matter what you think. It's just...unexpected," she finished softly.

He said nothing, merely continuing to gaze at her out of unreadable dark eyes.

Her own eyes narrowed. "You do see it as a weakness, don't you?" She snapped, not sure who was most angry with; herself for displaying weakness before him in such a way, or him, for his own lack of apparent emotion where his children were concerned.

The God of War's hand ceased its movement and fractionally tightened its hold on her neck. "I didn't say that - after all, love of children and concern for their safety is one of the many things that can drive people - both men and women - to the battlefield. No, it's not necessarily a weakness - unless it overshadows all other considerations. You, for instance, are a natural warrior; it's in your blood. And yet, right now..." He shook his head, sending his earring dancing. "Right now, it seems to me that you're emotionally overwrought. It's not like I've taken the boy from you against your will. You asked me," he pointed out, his eyes never leaving hers. "And while I reserve the right - as his father - to now raise him as I see fit, I haven't forbidden you access to him. You will get to see him whenever you wish. So, my own, what is the problem?"

Kendaa drew a deep breath, angrily wiping the tears away. "I don't know! Alright? It just hurts!" She cried, bringing her hands up and planting them flat against his hard chest.

He rather liked the feel of her hands against him.

"I wish he didn't have to lose his innocence," she added in a broken whisper. "That's what hurts," she finally admitted, as much to herself as to the god who held her before him.

Smiling slightly he brought his other hand up behind her neck, linking his fingers and so holding her prisoner before him. "Well in that case," he whispered, leaning closer, his own previous anger dissolving. "Let's see what we can do to make you feel better, shall we?"

But her hands pressed more firmly against his chest, holding him away for the moment. "That isn't the answer for everything," she whispered back, although she moved her hands and slid them around his waist.

Ares shrugged. "Maybe not," he admitted, "But you must admit, it makes a good start." But her face didn't lighten. He sighed. "Kendaa, trust me. Our son will be fine. I won't allow any harm to come to him. And one way or another, every living creature loses their innocence, sooner or later," he added, an odd expression on the face that was both beautiful and masculine at the same time. His dark eyes gazed down into her own tear-washed green ones.

She leaned her head against him, taking comfort in the feel of him. "I know that, my love. It's just not having him with me all the time. That's part of it. As for the rest...I don't know... He's such a beautiful part of us both - and it's tearing me apart to know that he...that he..." She couldn't bring herself to finish it.

He moved back slightly, forcing her to raise her head. "Well, my own, as I said - let's see what we can do to make it go away for now."

She opened her mouth to say something, but it remained unsaid.

His lips covered hers - and she was lost. Giving herself over to the feelings his mouth and hands called to urgent life within her, her last coherent thought was one of certain knowledge. No, Ares wouldn't allow harm to come to their son, either from himself or others. Somehow she knew that when the time came, Ares would allow Leonides to choose his own path in life. And he would instill a code of honour in his son, no matter what else he gave to him. She wasn't sure why or how she knew that, but she was sure of it. And it gave comfort to her aching heart.

Much later that night, Kendaa lay beside Ares, idly rubbing her hand over his hard chest. She traced a circle. "You were right. I do feel better." She leaned across and planted a butterfly kiss on the area she had just been tracing with her finger.

Ares grinned, pulling her closer against him. "I told you so. You should know I'm never wrong about these things, my sweet," he told her - somewhat smugly, she thought. Raising her head, she gazed at him in the near-darkness - the only light being that streaming in the window from the full moon.

"Ares, you can be so..."

"Kendaa?"

"What?"

"Shut up."

Ares moved, pushing her down on the bed so that he rose over her again, and his mouth silenced any further observations she might have had on the subject.

This document was created by Kendaa on the 26/04/99